Foothold and method of manufacture



March 6, 1951' LHOLLIER 2,544,270

FOOTHOLD AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE Filed April 2, 1948 Les/2'2 ff-L DEE/55L WM u). My

iffyit is worn upon the SQQQL Patented Mar. 6, 1951 OFFICE roar onn AND METEHGQ er QTUBE? k Iiesl'ie H: 'EHollier, Newton, 'Mass, assigngr to The. B) E. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a erporatien of: New-York As rams she miss s sa5 11 .Glainis, (c1. 367.4)

This invention relates to an overshoe and a method ofmaking the same, and particularlyto a foothold or similar article of; iootwearand a last fe mak ng e ame It i a ebi et i en c rev e vershoe or foothold in which the heel strap and vamp are snug f ttingand hug the Shoe or; the earer It s o. m bbi'ee t r e id a. m tho iimals ns, seen. ar c e qif e ee e d.

. iurthe c i etswib apparent ree) the. l r et e hiehi lews.

Although. everh e s nd eethe ds ha s terieeshr predated. the neihed 9 this n n ties are new an e ew 2 11 31. e es. Free: e ii t9 h a ti es c t iqetrear. Qt t s e elit sm,

h s inven ed a snug fit s Q iai fed. by:

new meth d i eeest i tio iemh dr na a fi ur i eeata reti nmaee up e 5 the e the and; temp s r n ei th art e. of ieqtweer'. his nvented. ifs I28. .....Q i fl erelieable. t9 malins ght, inexpens v ve bees, Q13 iqethel s. al by mnenhet a im lar eQm ue -on b used; iqqtwear to. eiiqrd ashes fi ting at the heel, vamp, and instep.

.Ifhis inve nieni ay h were readily-un e us y rerrine ts the aeees e nrins drawings, of.

ms. pe spec ive 9f. the last used trus in and ennina i othc d. embedvine. th imentinn;

fits a is. a slap s hee s ra and ramp member Pl eand with. the ends 9 said t as ererlaeeedte term e ment at tee;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan View of the completed foothold mcunt on. the-les Fig. 4 is an elevation of the finished product as Fi g. his a bottom plan view of another embodiment. of my'invention in which the ends of the .unitary strap member are overlapped and secured t the nk; eresse erz Fig. (5, is a cross sectional view taken along line I tar and his- 7 s e s Sectional iew ta along, lin "I -l of Fig. 4.

In carrying out the method of this invention, a 1-inch unvulcanized calendered rubber strip l wf placed on the side of the heel ll of the last and. wrapped around the heel portion. The strip ID was then crossed at the shank I of the st I2, and brought up around the toe portion It or the last I2 to form an upstanding vam I! which is integral with the heel-encircling portion l3.-f: The ends of the strip were overlapped and adhered one. to the other to,v form a toe reinforce. 1119 15.. t8. A sole mem r 9 was th n placed upon the last and adhered; to the. vamp portion I] of; he. ubberstrin H1. T e pro uc w s t n. v.- canized and the footholdto k. t e f rm ofhe a t- The shape of the last may vary depending,upon the height of the heel of the shoe for which the foothold is designed, but the shape is not critical for the heel strap, being elastic, will fit various shoes. The sides or the vamp portion H are ed. inwardly as arev the sidewalls '22 of the last [2. Thus; the vamp. hugs the shoe at all times and when the foot, is flexed, the. heel strap tends, to pull the vamp snugly against the shoe because, at the. figure-.8 construction. Since the vamp is somewhat elastic a d is an ed nw r y. th

, product, will adjust itself to. shoes of different widths and shapes. The. member 23 of the, heel-,, encircling portion [-3 and member 24 of the vamp ['7 form the outer side or the article of footwear.

Y Likewise m mb rzfi' of th he l-encircling po t on i3 and member 2%. oihe vamp. H; f r e 1 .6 side of the article Of footwear. Member-g3 over-1 lies. member 24. at. the shank cross-over as shown in Figs. 6 and Extruded or calendered stripping may be. used tor the heel strap and vamp; therefore, the-use of dies and the cuttin of patterns is eliminated except. for the sole members. The. use of extruded strap material also. does away with any trimming after vulcanization. Economy then is an additional advantage of the method along with those improvements already mentioned.

Other articles of footwear may use a similar figure-B construction to achieve the snug fitting thevamp to give the footwear a snug fit at the in:

step. The ends-of the strip material may be over lapped at the toe portion as in the above example or -an overlap may be made at other points on the vamp, or. heel-encircling portions. The ends of the strip. were overlapped at the shank crossover in another embodiment or this invention as shown in Fig. 5. Starting at the shank, the strip material was wrapped around the heel and crossed over the end of the strip at the shank, then wrapped around the toe to form a, vam and the ends of the strip then overlapped and secured to each other at the shank. The ends of the strip may also be secured by forming a butt joint disposed at the shank or at any other suitable point.

Other materials may obviously be used instead may be secured together by heating locally to form a heat seal. Similarly, the sole member may be heat-sealed to the vamp. Any other suitable method for securing the elements together may be employed of course, such as the us'eoi cements or adhesives, stitching, etc.

The method of this invention is especially adapted to the manufacture of a lightweight foothold which is easily removed and which fits snugly when worn.

Although a particular method of manufacture has been stressed, it is my intention that the invention be not limited by this example nor by the materials of this example, but to include all of the obvious variations and modifications'f all ing within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. My

' I claim: I T 1. An overshoe comprising a band of resilient n'i'ate'rial, relatively wide as compared to its thick-"i ness, endless and twisted in the shape of a figure 8 with the cross-over thereof secured to; geth er in face-to-face relation to forma' shank, thelc iopofsaid band forward of 'sfaid'sha'nk'pro viding an upstanding 'vamp'and the loop o'f'said' band to the rear of sai'd'shank providing an up wardlyland rearwardly directed heel-encircling member by'virtue of said shapeand twist, and a sole disposed forwardly of said shank and secured along the lower margin of said upstanding vamp.

'2. The overshoe of claim 1 invihich saidband includes'a lapped seam disposed in the forward loop remote from said shank, providing a toe reinforcement for said'vamp.

3. The overshoe of claim 1 in which said band includes a seam disposed at the shank cross-over. 4. The overshoe of claim 1 in 'Which said band of resilient material comprises a vulcanized rubber.

5. The overshoe of claim 2 in whichsaid band of resilient material comprises a vulcanized rubber. I I

6. The overshoe of claim 3 in which said band complete said upstanding vamp and joining the ends of the band in a lapped seam to form a toe reinforcement, and securing a sole member to said upstanding vamp.

,8. A method of making an overshoe comprising-placing at the shank of a last one end of a band of resilient material having greater transverse width than thickness, wrapping said band around the periphery of the heel of said last then under and across the shank to form a fiat crossover at' said shank then around the toe of said last to'form an upstanding vamp and then joiningthe remaining end of said band with the starting end at said shank, and securing to said upstanding vamp a sole member.

9. A method of making an overshoe comprising placing at the shank of a last one end of a band' of 'vulcanizable resilient rubber-like material having greater transverse width than thickness wrapping said band around the periphery of the heel of said-last and under and across the.

shank to form a fiat cross-over at the shank and around the toe of said last to form an upstanding vamp and joining the remaining endof said band with the starting end at'said shank,.secur.-, ing tosaid upstanding. band a sole member, andv I thickness by placing one end of .said .band' at. the.

toe of'sa'id last and wrapping said'band around:

the outer margin of one's-ide' of said last to form' a part of an upstanding vamp then under and across the shank and aroundtheperiphery of the.

heel and again under andacross the shank of said lastto form a flat cross-over at said shank and around the outer margin of the other side of said last to complete said upstanding vamp, joinl-I. ing the ends of the band in a lapped seam to form a toe reinforcement, and securing a sole member I to said upstanding vamp and heating said struc-,

of resilient material comprises a vulcanized rub- I ber.

'7. A method of making an overshoe compris ing disposing about a last in a figure-8 configuration a. band of resilient material having greater transverse width than thickness by placing one end of said bandatithe toe of said last then wrapping said band around the outer marture to vlulcanize it. e

11. A method of making an overshoe comprise, ing disposing about a. last in figure-8'configura= tion a band of flexible material having greater Widththan thickness with the crossing of the band disposed flat against the shank of said last and the loops of the band forming an upstanding vamp and a rearwardly extending loop around the marginal zones of the toe and heel portions of the last, respectively, and securing a sole member to said upstanding vamp.-

LESLIE H. LHOLLIER. I

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS Radway Dec. 12, 1927 

